Hidden Leaf Hospital.
A group of medical shinobi from the other four great shinobi villages had gathered to discuss the matter of transplanting the First Hokage's cells.
Clearly—
The other villages wouldn't place full trust in the Hidden Leaf. So, alongside the volunteers, they also sent numerous highly skilled medical shinobi.
For example, from the Hidden Sand came Chiyo, a top-tier medical shinobi who had developed Self-Reincarnation—a forbidden jutsu that, like the Rinne Tensei of the Rinnegan, could truly bring the dead back to life.
The fact that someone could develop a forbidden jutsu of such caliber spoke volumes about Chiyo's terrifying prowess in medical ninjutsu.
In fact, with the Hidden Leaf's medical shinobi having shone brightly in various wars, the other villages had since established their own medical shinobi systems.
"There's nothing wrong with Tsunade's surgical arrangements."After shaking his head, a medical shinobi from the Hidden Mist turned to Chiyo and asked respectfully,"Elder Chiyo, what's your opinion?"
Chiyo replied,"There's no issue with the surgical arrangements. It's just that the effects of the fusion agents and inhibitors still need to be verified in practice."
"Judging from the formula, there shouldn't be a problem. Everyone here is familiar with the medicinal properties of these compounds."—This from a medical shinobi of the Hidden Stone.
"Medicinal properties can still vary!"Chiyo shook her head and turned her gaze to a youth nearby—Shinji.
That's right. As a medical corps intern, Uchiha Shinji had been tasked with the exhausting job of receiving these medical shinobi from the other villages.
But what was hard work to others, Shinji pursued eagerly.
Because mingling with these medical shinobi gave him a chance to study the fusion and inhibitor formulas—speeding up his mastery of their preparation techniques.
Noticing the Uchiha fan crest on Shinji's clothing, Chiyo asked:
"You're from the Uchiha clan?"
"Yes, my name is Uchiha Shinji. I'm an intern in the medical unit. If you need anything, you may come to me directly."
Shinji nodded politely.
Chiyo didn't hold back:
"We'll need the Hidden Leaf to provide some medicinal ingredients so we can test the efficacy of the fusion agents and inhibitors."
Shinji smiled:
"No problem."
Originally, the village had no budget for this sort of thing—but Shinji didn't care.
If he didn't let these medical shinobi test the fusion and inhibitor agents, how would he get close enough to steal their formulation techniques?
Soon, the request from the other villages' medical teams to test the agents was formally submitted—by none other than Shinji.
Upon seeing the report, Tsunade was immediately enraged:"Those bastards actually want us to provide the ingredients too!?"
Shizune gave a helpless smile:
"Looks like they really don't trust us..."
"If they don't trust us, they shouldn't have accepted the surgery in the first place! It's not like we begged them!"
After complaining, Tsunade shook the report in her hand:
"And what is this report supposed to be? The medical corps actually submitted this? How am I supposed to reject it?"
Shizune quickly explained:
"The one handling reception is Uchiha Shinji... He's still a kid, so..."
Tsunade frowned:
"Why did we assign an intern to such an important task? Ugh, whatever. Just some ingredients. Give it to them."
With Tsunade's approval, the medical corps didn't dare delay. They immediately provided the requested medicinal materials needed for the formula to the other villages' medical teams.
And Shinji, who was in charge of reception, handled this batch personally.
Soon after, he noticed something was off with the ingredients. While the foreign medical shinobi were checking the inventory, Shinji secretly activated his Sharingan, and using the x-ray vision of his Byakugan-linked dojutsu, peeked at the formula the village had handed over.
"This isn't right... This clearly isn't the original version!"
Shinji furrowed his brows.
He had obtained the original formulas for the fusion and inhibitor agents from Yakumo. What the village had handed over to the outsiders was clearly different.
He immediately cross-analyzed the two versions using his knowledge of pharmacology.
He discovered that the original version was far more complex, both in ingredient count and preparation technique, than the version the village handed out.
"So the village gave them a low-tier version..."
Shinji chuckled and shook his head.
Still, even if it was a low-tier version, it didn't stop him from stealing their preparation know-how. So he quickly gathered himself and continued assisting the medical shinobi from the other villages.
Because Shinji was officially assigned by the Hidden Leaf's medical corps, and because he genuinely offered a lot of help, Chiyo and the others didn't bother hiding anything from him.
And so, right under Shinji's nose, Chiyo and the others completed the preparation of the low-tier fusion and inhibitor agents.
Once the concoction was done, they began verifying the medicinal properties.
Shinji quietly retreated to the side, silently reviewing everything he had just learned.
"So those few ingredients require cold-processing..."
"The extraction process for Zijin Fruit is actually that complex..."
"Antler Ginseng needs to be at least 30 years old? The formula didn't mention that... Maybe it's basic pharmacological knowledge, so they didn't bother writing it down?"
Just from observing the preparation once, Shinji found himself deeply enriched.
Some time later, the medical shinobi from the Hidden Mist said:"The medicinal analysis of the fusion agent is complete—non-toxic, with effective components."
From the Hidden Cloud side, another added:
"The inhibitor agent analysis is also complete—slightly toxic to cellular tissue, but strongly suppressive!"
Chiyo nodded slightly.
Even with the most critical eye, she couldn't pick out a single flaw in the version Hidden Leaf had handed over.
Once it was confirmed that the formula was effective, Shinji smiled and said:
"Once the volunteers complete their checkups, we'll begin surgery arrangements here in the Hidden Leaf."
Chiyo looked meaningfully at Shinji:
"I heard the Hidden Leaf Academy is about to hold a combat assessment—and that Kurama Yakumo, the one who underwent the surgery, will participate?"
Shinji replied:
"That's correct."
A medical shinobi from Hidden Cloud asked:
"Can we observe the test?"
Shinji shook his head:
"You'll have to request that through formal channels. I don't have the authority to answer."
Chiyo smiled:
"Uchiha Shinji, if the rumors are true, didn't you once defeat that girl from the Kurama clan who can use Wood Release?"
Shinji remained calm:
"It was just luck."
"Oh?" Chiyo didn't seem convinced. She continued,
"Then please, help us file a request to observe the event."
"Understood."
Shinji nodded and turned to leave.
Once Shinji was gone, the medical shinobi from Hidden Mist clicked his tongue in surprise:
"Since when did the Uchiha become so humble? It's unnerving."
The Cloud ninja sneered:
"He's just a remnant of a destroyed clan. What's he got to be arrogant about?"
The Stone ninja smirked mockingly:
"Really? Then how come I heard that just today, Uchiha Sasuke publicly thrashed one of your Cloud shinobi at the academy?"